According to the
anonymous author of the , Samuel's family descended from two "
Cuman" chieftains, Ed and Edemen, who received "a great land in the forest of
Mátra" from
Árpád,
Grand Prince of the Hungarians around 900. The 13th-century historian
Simon of Kéza, and the 14th-century Hungarian chronicles describe the Aba kindred as descendants of
Csaba (himself a son of
Attila the Hun) by a lady from
Khwarezm. Since all Hungarian chronicles emphasize the Orientaleither "Cuman" or "Khwarezmian" origin of the Abas, Gyula Kristó, László Szegfű and other historians propose that the Aba clan descending from them ruled the
Kabars, a people of
Khazar origin who joined the Hungarians in the middle of the 9th century, before
the Hungarians' arrival in the Carpathian Basin around 895. Kristó argues that both Samuel's Khazar origin and his first name suggest that he was born to a family that adhered to
Judaism. Despite the uncertainty over the clan's origins, Samuel undoubtedly descended from a distinguished family, since an unnamed sister of
Stephen I, who had in 1000 or 1001 been crowned the first
King of Hungary, was given in marriage to a member of the Aba clan around 1009. However, historians still debate whether Samuel himself or Samuel's father married the royal princess. If Samuel was her husband, he must have been born before 990 and converted either from Judaism or paganismto Christianity when he married Stephen I's sister. His Christian credentials are further evidenced by Samuel's establishment of an abbey at
Abasár which was recorded by Hungarian chronicles. According to Gyula Kristó and other historians, Samuel's conversion coincided with the creation of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Eger encompassing his domains. , 1664) Samuel held important offices during the reign of King Stephen. Pál Engel proposes that
Abaújvár ("Aba's new castle") was named after him, implying that he was also the first
ispán, or head, of that fortress and the
county surrounding it. Samuel was a member of the royal council and became the first
palatine of Hungary. The death of King Stephen on 15 August 1038 led to his nephew,
Peter Orseolo of
Venice, ascending to the throne. The new monarch preferred his German and Italian courtiers and set aside the native lords, including Samuel. In 1041, discontented
Hungarian noblemen expelled King Peter in a
coup d'état and elected Samuel king. ==King of Hungary==